4 Times Rocket Learned Something New
by everfaraway
Summary: And one time Rocket taught his friends. Rocket is clearly not used to social situations. So some things that people do often are lost on him. Or he takes them the wrong way because of his past. T for safety. Mild language, mentions of torture, death & general insanity. Additional warnings per chapter.
1. Petting Isn't Just For Pets

Petting Isn't Just Reserved for Pets

**_Author: So it shouldn't be too hard to guess my new favorite Marvel Cinematic  
><em>**_**Universe character is. The question is who do I love more: Rocket or Clint? Um...  
><strong>_**_I don't wanna choose. So anyways, taking a couple of stabs in the dark as to how  
><em>****_Rocket sees the world. Anyways I own nothing, nobody, etc... Have fun & plz review._**

He hates being touched.

Absolutely frackin' hates it.

The bastards on Half World were always touching him... before.

But since "earning his freedom" (more like blowing the frackin' place up and escaping), he doesn't allow anyone to touch him except Groot.

The prison guards don't count.

They've made a habit of giving him a mild sedative when he gets locked up.

Probably because he almost tore that one guard's face off a while back.

Bastard had it coming for poking around his hardware.

But Groot... Groot had been a simple thing.

Simple but very big and very, very strong.

But even when he would turn on Groot, cursing and biting and scratching, the tree-man never showed an ounce of aggression towards him.

If anything, Rocket would find himself lifted into the air by the scruff of his neck and have his nose gently tapped with a twig, tendril or thin branch.

The message was always clear when Groot did this: "You are angry, I know. But you must stop."

Groot pitied him because he had known he was in pain but he had been unsure how to make it better.

But... that had been how Groot was made.

Gentle, calm, simple but protective of his friends.

Out in the world... the place Beyond (as he had used to call it)... all races, especially the little ones (children he thinks they are called) will try to touch him.

And he's not above nipping fingers that get too close.

After a while he finds out it is call petting.

Apparently it's usually reserved for creatures that are kept in homes as companions... pets.

He is NOT anyone's pet.

Anyone who suggests it tends to leave the area bleeding.

So when Drax sits beside him and pets him between the ears as he sobs over broken pieces of Groot's body, he tells himself that he should take off a few of the Destroyer's fingers.

Or at least give him a few good scratches.

But he really can't bring himself to.

So he growls out: "I ain't yer pet."

"I am aware." Drax replies.

"Then why are ya petting me?" he hisses as tears drip off his whiskers.

"Because you are in pain and because you are my friend. As was Groot." Drax tells him gently.

Rocket sniffs and whispers, "Everyone who ever touched me wanted to hurt me... or thought I was a pet."

"You know... on Terra and some other planets people "pet" each other because they care." Peter calls from where he and Gamora stand nearby.

"So ya really are petting me cuz ya care?" Rocket asks, glancing at Drax.

"Yes." Drax whispered. His hand has gone still and Rocket realizes the Destroyer waiting for him to blow up.

"Just... don't do it unless you ask if I'm okay with it. Or if I ask for it." Rocket mutters.

"Agreed."

He glances down at the twigs in his paws and his chest tightens again, making it hard to breath. "Will ya...?" he sobs.

And then Drax is petting him again and he should hate it.

But... they've established that he is Drax's friend not his pet.

So he lets it happen... just this once.

**_Author: Also the word "Frackin" that I use generally meaning fucking. I think I picked it up from Rocket in GotG or maybe somewhere else. But I'm pretty sure it was him using it._**


	2. Tiny Things Make the World Less Scary

Tiny Things Can Make The World Less Scary

**_Author: I was gonna do Peter's chapter as the end of the four chapters where Rocket learns  
><em>****_something from each of the other guardians but I'm having a hard time nailing something for  
><em>**_**Gamora & Groot's chapter totally needs to be last. Writing a very curious Rocket is amusing.  
><strong>_**_See my profile to a link to fanart for the first chapter. I own nobody. Also see A/N at bottom._**

He doesn't understand why Peter carries it around... absolutely everywhere.

It doesn't matter if it's a bar, a meeting with the Nova Corps on Xandar, chasing a mark, a fight or just the bathroom in the Milano...

Where Quill goes, it goes.

Dumbass had even risked going back into the Kyln and not getting back out for it.

Drax had been right in assuming it played music and while Rocket had seen things like it before... he had not idea why this one was so frackin' special.

Peter hadn't realized that Rocket had let himself into his room, so he is definitely not aware that his furry teammate is sitting at the foot of his bed with the "Walkman" (or so Rocket assumes it's called) in his paws.

No... the half Terran is too busy dancing around the room.

Rocket turns the little device over in his paws, being careful not to leave scratches, as he looks it over.

On the outside it appears simple: rectangular, probably some form of Terran metal, with little buttons and a small jack that he knows is meant for the headphones.

Inside he figures there are wires and all sorts of tiny parts that he wished he could take apart and inspect before putting the whole thing back together but Quill could have his pelt if he did.

Rocket glances up at Peter, still dancing and now singing louder than his ears can stand.

So he flattens his ears against his head, closing them a bit before returning his attention to the object in his paws.

Is it indestructible?

Doubtful.

If it was, Peter wouldn't be so protective of it.

Rocket snickers as a second thought enters his chaotic little mind.

What if it's actually a very small bomb?

It is possible, he realizes and several ways to create a bomb small enough to fit in the casing of the little music player surface in his mind.

"Owww." he moans softly, setting the little device aside to clutch his head.

"Hey... Rocket? You okay?"

So Quill finally stopped his song and dance routine.

"Headache. Turn that down." Rocket whispers, motioning in the general direction of Peter's stereo.

The volume drops considerably before the mattress dips and he sways to the side as Peter settles down beside him.

"Playing with my Walkman?" Peter asks.

Surprisingly there's only mild amusement in his voice whereas Rocket had been expecting anger.

"I was trying to figure out why it's so frackin' precious to ya. Then my brain..." he sighs.

Then his chaotic little brain had gone into overdrive and gave him a headache.

"Oh..." Peter shrugs as he reaches behind his furry companion to pick up his Walkman.

"So.. why is it so important to ya?" Rocket finally asks when his headache fades.

Peter turns the object in question over in his hands and finally whispers, "My mother gave it to me."

"And where's mommy dearest now? Off makin' a living as a Ravager? Or is she..."

Rocket trails off when he's lifted into the air by the scruff of his neck and roughly shaken like a pet who had misbehaved.

"My mother died of cancer the night... Yondu kidnapped me from Earth!" Peter snaps, shaking him again.

Rocket's fur fluffs up in rage and he snarls viciously. "Then consider yerself lucky ya frackin' HUMIE! I born in a TEST TUBE!" he all but screams back.

He digs his claws in Peter's jacket sleeve and swings his head around to try to bite his so called friend.

Peter drops him and Rocket lands on all fours, hissing and snapping his teeth in Peter's direction.

The message is perfectly clear: DO NOT TOUCH ME AGAIN!

"I thought you had been taken from Earth... from Terra too." the half Terran whispers.

"Just because I look like a "raccoon", don't mean I am one." Rocket hisses.

They fall into silence as Peter stares at his hands and Rocket slowly calms down.

"Come here?" Peter asks.

"Why? So you can try to rough me up again?" Rocket growls.

Peter rubs a hand over the back of his neck and whispered, "No. And I'm sorry about that."

Rocket watches Peter stretch out on his bed before he pulls himself up onto the foot of the bed. "I'm sorry about your mom. I thought... Yondu had picked ya both up... or something.." he whispers, running claws through the fur on his tail slowly.

"It's okay... and I'm sorry. About you being born in a test tube." Peter sighs.

"Not yer fault. So nothing you should apologize for." Rocket shrugs as he crawls up the bed to sit beside Peter.

He hates being pitied but sympathy... that he's learning not to mind.

Peter dozes off after a few minutes and Rocket slips his headphones from the bedside shelf slowly.

The foam or whatever it is feels strange against his fur and the headphones keep slipping so he lets them drop around his neck so he can plug the jack into the Walkman.

He stares at the buttons for a moment before figuring out which was is "Play" then promptly adjusts the volume so not to blow out his eardrums.

The Walkman finds it's way into his lap and he curls his tail around it to keep it there as he holds the headphones close to his ears. He closes his eyes tightly and sniffles softly as a song he reconizes as "O-o-h Child" plays.

He sees why Peter always listens to this thing now.

The music makes the world seem a little bit less scary.

**_Author: I know that Rocket is supposed to be an actual Terran raccoon that was whisked off to space & experimented on. But I figure maybe a little brainwashing took place & the people on Half-World made him believe he had born there from a test tube. _**


	3. We Are Both Lost Souls

We are Both Lost Souls... But At Least We Are Lost Together

**_Author: 11 reviews, 18 Favs & 23 follows! Ty everyone. When I started writing  
><em>****_for GotG, I seriously did not think it'd get this popular. Not mention all the favorites  
><em>**_**& comments this story is getting on Deviantart too. Adorable Gamora & Rocket fluff.  
><strong>_**_Plus the Guardians as a family. Nobody is mine. But obviously I like playing with them!_**

Gamora stretches and rolls over, squinting at her clock which reads close to three in the morning.

She crawls out of her bed, yawning as she heads for the kitchen.

The Milano is quiet which means her boys are all in bed asleep.

Unless Peter convinced Rocket and Drax to stay up drinking... then they are passed out in the kitchen somewhere.

But since she can hear Drax snoring in his bunk, she knows that was not the case.

Regardless... Groot was asleep for sure.

The sapling wore out easily, especially after spending dinner dancing happily for them as they ate.

Peter had laughed, Drax had chuckled, she had giggled and Rocket had smiled.

But after dinner as she and Peter did the dishes, Rocket had been... unusually quiet.

Normal he always had some sharp comment to add to something Peter had said. Or a loud bark of laughter when Drax would miss a metaphor.

Her favorite post dinner moments are his yelps of surprise when Peter flicks soapy water in his direction.

Or when she will touch his nose and leave a little pile of soap suds that he will go cross eyed staring at before finally swatting them away, growling softly the entire time.

And Rocket can always be counted on to grab a paw full of soap suds and smear them across her cheek when she least expects it.

But tonight.. tonight he simply sat there as they talked and laughed while Groot fell asleep.

Drax had tried to engage him but Rocket simply looked up at him then slipped away.

"What is wrong with Rocket, little one?" she whispers, touching the tiny leaves on Groot's head gently. The leaves twitch under her fingertips and the sapling smiles contently.

"Hey... why don't ya let him sleep?"

Gamora almost jumps... almost and looks up to see Rocket standing in the cockpit doorway.

"I am sorry... I was not intending to wake him... or you." she whispers, dropping her gaze when she realizes that the top of Rocket's jumpsuit is down around his waist. She has seen Peter shirtless many times and Drax... well is Drax but Rocket remains covered at all times to hide his implants. He must truly have thought himself alone.

"Wasn't sleeping... not really." he sighs.

She lets her hand fall from Groot, who murmurs softly at the loss of the contact and wonders if she should go back to her bunk.

"C'mon 'Mora." Rocket whispers as he disappears back into the cockpit and hauls himself into the pilot chair.

His body protests every movement and he whines until he finds the most comfortable position... or at least the one that causes him the least amount of pain.

The pillow helps... just not as much as a mossy bed usually does when he hurts all over like this.

"Are you ill?" Gamora whispers, sitting across from him.

"Nah... just tired... been hurting all day." he groans.

"Why did you not tell us?" she demands softly.

She wants to be angry with him... but she can't.

He look absolutely exhausted. His ears are back, his paws are still and his eyes are shut.

There is a pillow at his back and he has a blanket wrapped around his shoulders.

"Your implants?" she asks softly, wanting to reach out to hold and comfort him.

"Yeah... all of them." he whimpers.

"Mine hurt too... sometimes." she admits softly.

His eyes flutter open and he stares at her. "Thanos... changed ya?" he asks softly.

"Yes... much of my skeleton is entirely cybernetic or at least partially. I have implants in my respiratory, visual and neurological systems... Thanos wished me to be a living weapon." she admits sadly.**  
><strong>

"I'm sorry..." Rocket whispers, giving her a small smile to try to cheer her up.

"Come here? If you can?" she requests, stretching her legs to prop her feet in his seat.

Rocket eyes her for a moment before grabbing a corner of his pillow and blanket in his teeth and crawling across her legs into her lap. She sits still as he pushes his pillow against her abdomen and then wraps himself in his blanket. Gingerly she wraps her arms around him to hold him close and rests her chin between his ears.

"We're the only ones like us in the 'verse... ain't we?" he whispers after a few moments.

"Yes... I suppose we are." she agrees quietly as his paws slide into one of her hands.

She is the last of her people and while there seems to be creatures that look like Rocket across the universe, he is truly unique.

It is a fact that she has accepted over the years... but Rocket... she does not know.

Rocket sniffles softly in her lap and she gently squeezes him.

"Shh... shh... shhhh..." she croons for a moment until his sniffles subside a little.

Once he is calm again, she whispers: "We are both lost souls Rocket... but at least we are lost together."

**_Author: Once again keep in mind that Rocket does not seem to know that he is a Terran Raccoon. Title & Gamora's last line are actually from a movie called Blood & Chocolate. Totally random to referance in GotG but it's a favorite of mine._**


	4. You are NOT a Monster

You are NOT a Monster

**_Author: Okay so this one started out as an idea to make everyone cry... not so much  
><em>****_anymore. No Slash, promise. Warnings: Rocket's mouth, Rocket's past, Spoilers for_**_  
><em>_**the movie, a pissy little Groot... and anything I might have missed. I own nothing!**  
><em>

Rocket scratches his ear as he looks down at the piece of metal in his lap.

It had been a battery he had "salvaged" from the ruins of the _Warbird_.

Had been... but now it could become dozen of things.

If he can focus long enough to do anything with it.

Except that when he tries, all he hears in his head was: "WE are Groot."

"WE are Groot? What the hell?" he mutters.

He had understood what Groot was really saying but the meaning had confused him.

"Goodbye Rocket... I love you."

How could anyone or anything love him?

He is a monster... a freak.

Under his jumpsuit and fur are more scars than he could count, his implants and all of his internal modifications.

His skeleton is entirely cybernetic.

And he is pretty sure some kind of modifications had been made to his brain...

He growls and tugs on his ears, using the pain to drag himself out of his memories.

He is vicious, unstable, prone to fits of rage...

"And a frackin' little monster." he whines.

"I am Groot?" (Rocket?)

He snarls and looks up to see Groot peeking at him from around the leg of his work table. "Scare the frackin' hell outta me why don't ya." he hisses.

"I am Groot." Groot whimpers, hiding behind the table leg. (I'm sorry.)

"It ain't your fault. Come here." Rocket sighs.

The little tree-child giggles and toddles towards his furry friend.

Rocket is still not quite used to Groot being so small, so it's strange when the tree-child settles in his lap instead of the other way around.

"I am Groot?" Groot asks softly. (What's wrong?)

"Just thinking... wondering.. how could ya... love... something like me?" Rocket whimpers.

Groot sighs and shakes his head. "I am Groot." he mutters. (Oh Rocket.)

Rocket sniffles, tugging at the front of his jumpsuit to give his paws something to do and Groot strokes his whiskers gently.

"We are Groot." (I said I love you and I do... but I do not wish to... mate? Yes.. that is the word... mate. I do not wish to mate with you. You are my closest friend and I care for you very much. If you were to die, I would still carry you in my memories for many years to come.)

"But I'm a freak." Rocket sobs.

"I am Groot." (You are what those creatures... the scientists... made you. But you have become much more than what they intended for you to be.)

"I... I love ya too... ya idiot." Rocket whispers, hugging Groot gently.

Groot tugs gently on Rocket's fur to make him look at him and insists, "I am Groot." (You are NOT a monster!)

"You say that... but the others..." Rocket whispers.

"I AM GROOT!" Groot snaps, stepping out of his lap. (They do NOT see you as a monster!)

Rocket looks at the tree-child in front of him and laughs softly.

Groot is not even two feet tall so the sight of him standing with his tiny arms folded over his little chest, looking annoyed as hell... is hillarious.

"Okay... okay. Ya made your point. Stop looking at me like that before I frackin' die laughing." Rocket giggles.

Groot makes a sound of annoyance, gives one of Rocket's feet a kick then stalks away. "I am Groot!" he shouts. (I'm gonna go dance with Peter!)


	5. This Is How I Came To Be

_**Author: This is Part 1 of what Rocket teaches his teammates. It's gonna be in parts  
><strong>_**_because I really wanted to post something before I go back to work tommarow & also  
><em>**_**also because I realized I have alot of stuff to cover with Rocket's past & it might not fit  
>all in one part. Tried to mix a little bit of the older, wiser Groot with the young, child-like<br>Groot. Everything belongs to Marvel except for the Memory Cube. See end for Author note.**_

Rocket stares into the piece of glass he had secreted away to his room to use as a mirror, running his claws through his fur as he does.

"I am Groot?" comes from behind him as Groot kicks his feet over the side of their cot. (What are you doing?)

"Thinking." he whispers, parting his fur just enough to see the scars they hide.

From head to foot he is covered in scars... some considerably more noticable than others.

How his ears and tails managed to remain relatively unscathed.. he still has not figured out.

"I am Groot?" Groot asks in concern. (Why are you looking at your scars?)

"Because... I'm thinking about where they came from." Rocket admits softly.

Halfworld...

His own personal hell...

The place that still haunted his sleep after 4 years.

Vaguely he hears the pitter-patter of tiny feet then... a sharp tug on his tail.

"I am Groot!" (Rocket!)

"OWWWW! Don't do that!" Rocket shouts, pulling his tail from Groot's grasp.

The tree-child is still smaller than he is, only coming up to his shoulders, but growing fast.

"I am Groot!" Groot tells him with a glare. (Do not think of Half-World!)

"Shaddup and come on." Rocket tells him, zipping up his jumpsuit.

Groot chases after him, playing his own personal game of hopscotch with Rocket's tail as it swishes from side to side.

Peter, Gamora and Drax are on the couch in the common room, half watching the holo-set while they talk.

"Hey ya idiots!" Rocket shouts in greeting.

"Hey Rocket!" Peter calls back.

Groot abandons his game with Rocket's tail and runs around to the front of the couch, where Gamora picks him up to deposit him in Peter's lap.

"Idiot's indeed." the green woman chuckles.

Rocket doesn't join them on the couch but instead mutes the holo-set as he stands before them, toying with the small black box in his paws.

"What is wrong small furry friend?" Drax asks.

"Is that a memory cube?" Peter asks, staring at the box in Rocket's paws.

"Yeah... there's something on it I wanna... that I want everyone to see." Rocket whispers as he shivers.

He didn't think this was going to be this hard.

"I am Groot." Groot whispers as he watches his friend with sad eyes. (You don't have to do this.)

"Shaddup... I wanna do this... they deserve to know..." Rocket growls, setting the memory cube under the holo-set and touching a couple of buttons to make them connect.

Peter watches as Rocket rushes to the arm chair nearby and dives underneath the blanket in it.

Groot tugs on his shirt and points to the holo-set, silently telling him: "Watch."

The screen is blank at first and the audio starts out in what sounds like a series of whistles and chirps before the built in translator starts working.

"Quite recently we lost a great many of our unborn test subjects when the Growth Chamber suffered a massive freak electrical surge. We were able to revive a small amount of the test subjects but many of those revived showed little or no brain function so they were... disposed of."

Security footage appears on the screen of a room full of scientists, test tubes and tiny body bags.

Even though the footage is grainy, Peter can still make out a few of the races in the room.

A Centaurian, though not nearly as intimidating looking as Yondu.

Several Rainers and what looks like a few Xandarian's.

Metal tables are scattered through the room and the scientists are gathered in little groups around them as they work.

Gamora's eyes widen slowly as she begins to understand what she is seeing. "Rocket." she whispers, looking over at the chair where Rocket is.

Underneath the blanket Rocket is curled up into a ball, hiding his face under his tail and pulling on his ears in distress. His spine protests... he's not made to curl up like this anymore.

He hears Gamora whisper his name and realizes that she had begun to understand... of course she would.

She's clever and most of all... she's not so different than he is.

While what he's been through isn't something he would wish on his worst enemies (and certainly not on Gamora).. he's grateful she understands.

Groot touches Gamora's arm gently, bringing her attention back to the holo-set.

"Then we found that one subject survived the surge... quite unusual give that his genetic make up mirrors that of a Terran "raccoon" and other similar rodents."

The video shifts to a table where a very wet mammal with brown-grey fur, a black "mask" and a ringed tail lay shivering and looking very confused.

"Rocket." Drax whispers.

"We have given it the designation: Subject 89P13."

**_Author: _****_I don't believe the Halfworld scientists would start experimenting on a creature (raccoon like creature in this case) that is not mature. Otherwise they'd have the problem of the subject potentially "outgrowing" the modifications. So I figure they "aged" their subjects to maturity (a year & half to two years for the raccoon) before they began any modifications. So while Rocket looked like a mature raccoon when he came out of the test tube, he kinda was "born" when he came out of the test tube._**

**_Also the Memory Cube looks like one of those black cubes from the Doctor Who episode: The Power of Three._**


	6. These Are My First Memories

These Are My First Memories

**_Author: this one got written unexpectedly aka at work on my iphone while it  
>was slow. And there are so many fics where Rocket gets torn apart, stitched<br>back up, taken apart again, etc... that I decided to not go that route. I really  
>couldn't do it to my favorite foul mouthed, bomb making, badass furry pal. So<br>while Peter, Gamora & Drax are watching the video on the Memory Cube, Rocket  
>is reliving his first memories. One more chapter to go... I think. R&amp;R plz!<em>**

Cold... Why?

Wet... Why?

Confusion.

The surface under his paws is foreign... Different.

But he does not know what it should be different from.

He knows nothing up until this point... Remembers nothing.

Yet there are things he knows right away like how to get dry and warm... So he licks his fur and regrets it immediately.

The taste is... Something he does not know.

But he is cold and wet... Things he should not be... Or so something tells him.

Something soft touches him then it is Taking the wet off his fur and replacing the cold with warm.

The touch is not hurtful but comforting so he pushes the soft thing from his face and looks around.

There are creatures all around him... Standing on their hind legs and holding things in their front paws.

They are not covered in fur... Not completely.

Some have it in their head and others on their faces.

He reaches out and touches the fur on one's face... To find it rough against his paws.

He is still confused as he finds himself lifted off the foreign thing.

They make sounds with their mouths to each other... He can do that too... So he does... But they do not understand him.

Another foreign object... This one he is made to lay on.

It is cold against his belly... He doesn't like the cold.

They... The ones with little fur... Use strange things to hold his paws down.

A harsh scent hits his nose... Makes his sneeze... Then something is pressed against him under his fur.

It is tiny and cold... Reaching out to something that beeps every time his heart beats.

He chitters to it... To the ones with little fur... But they do not respond.

Then pain... Lots of pain.

What are they doing to him and why!?

He screeches, chitters and thrashes as he struggles to get free before darkness takes him over and the pain is gone.

"Surgery on subject 89P13... Success... Translator... Working..."

His ears twitch... The right one hurts but it wakes him up.

Subject 89P13... Is that him?

"Subject... Hear us? Understand... We say?"

He looks up at the one without fur that is looking at him and chitters softly.

"Subject!"

He looks up at the second voice, this one has long fur, and cocks his head.

"It understands." The first voice says.

"Good." The second responds.

They have implanted two things into his brain: one was a translator and the other was an audio and video receiver that they will use to teach him.

Both were already working... Slowly.

Language is still a foreign concept to him.

But the receiver has already taught him a bit.

He is on a planet called Halfword.

The creatures with no fur are scientists.

He is Subject 89P13... An incomplete specimen.

There will be countless more surgeries and much much more pain in the future... But he doesn't know that yet.

The ear that hurts because of the surgical incision will also become the ear he scratches when he is confused or thinking in the future... But he doesn't know that either.

What he does know is that he is still very confused and very scared.

He wonders if there is a way out of the place he is in and if he can find a way off Halfworld.

Even if he did find a way out... Where would he go?


	7. I'm Home

**_Author: I was supposed to have posted this here several days ago...  
>oops. Sorry everyone. Anyways I am both happy &amp; sad this is done.<br>I'll shut the hell up now. Enjoy! I own nothing!_**

"Quite recently Subject 89P13 has insisted upon being called "Rocket". Where or when the subject learned that changing it's designation is acceptable behavior is unknown. However we plan to..."

Peter jumps & glances around, trying to locate the source of the explosion... until he realizes it had come from the video.

"What was that?" Drax asks, staring at the now blank screen.

"Me... I blew up the place up." Rocket whispers, sitting up in his chair.

"Rocket... come here?" Gamora whispers, sitting cross legged between Peter & Drax.

Rocket watches her for a moment before sliding out of his chair & going to the couch, dragging his blanket with him.

Drax gently reaches down & lifts him up to set him on the couch with them.

"I remember... kinda going into this rage when I... heard the scientists talking about... using my genetic code to make more like me... then "disposing" of me." Rocket whispers, settling in Gamora's lap & wrapping his blanket around him.

"I am Groot." Groot whispers, crawling over into his furry friend's lap. (You are safe.)

"I set a bunch of bombs to go off... some on a timer... others remotely. I just wanted to blow the whole damn place up." Rocket chuckles.

"How did you escape?" Gamora prompts, sliding her arms around his waist gently. Trapping Rocket is not a good idea but that is not her intention.

"I shot a bunch of the guards after I killed all the scientists... I tore them all apart like they did me." Rocket whispers.

"I am Groot." the tree child in his lap whispers. (Then we met.)

Rocket squeezes Groot gently & says, "The ship I hopped aboard had just docked on Halfworld with it's cargo. The crew was already dead when I hopped aboard. I guess Groot didn't take too kindly to being lied to."

"I am Groot." Groot grumbles. (They said they were going to be taking me somewhere nice. Halfworld isn't a nice place.)

"No shit pal." Rocket mutters.

"Is the plant child constipated?" Drax asks.

Peter & Gamora both shake their heads before Rocket starts snickering.

"I am Groot?" the tree child asks, looking at Rocket. (What is constipated?)

"Don't worry about it pal." Peter laughs.

"You understood him?" Rocket asks as he stops snickering to stare at Peter with wide eyes.

"Yeah... wow... yeah I did." Peter realizes.

Groot giggles, which sounds like a Terran windchime & buries himself in Rocket's blanket.

"So anyways... me & this little brat got the hell outta dodge as I detonated the rest of the bombs & we've been jumping around the galaxy ever since." Rocket smirks.

"Then you two tried to capture me, Gamora interrupted, we ALL got arrested, got sent to prison & well... we all know the rest of the story from there." Peter laughs.

"We have all found friends." Drax says.

"And a home." Gamora agrees softly.

Rocket smiles as Peter gingerly scratches where his jaw meets his throat & smiles wider as Drax rubs his ears. Leaning against Gamora with Groot in his lap, a deep rumbling sound works it's way out of his chest.

He's safe... he's home... he's got a family.


End file.
